Skip to main content

People try to kick in the window of a jeweller's shop near the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, central England, as violence spread outside London Monday, Aug. 8, 2011.David Jones/AP

1. Apparently, there's no truth to the adage that all publicity is good publicity. This week, VisitBritain, the U.K.'s national tourist board, suspended a portion of its international digital advertising until the crisis over there subsides. (It was in the middle of a campaign titled "You're Invited." We presume this means we're not invited.) Then, a day later, Levi's said it would hold off launching the U.K. portion of its new global campaign because its main 60-second TV and cinema spot, which celebrates youthful rebellion, celebrates it a little too exuberantly – with images of youths protesting in the streets amid tear gas. "Now is our time!" declared the ad. Except, um, now is not the time.

2. Though if it's a choice between an edgy campaign being yanked and an off-tune one continuing to stay in market, we might side with the yanking. This week, the fashion designer and provocateur Kenneth Cole launched a campaign that aims to stimulate discussion about four hot-button issues: war, guns, gay rights and abortion. But for a man who supposedly cares about such issues, Mr. Cole treats them with surpassing cynicism: a 40-second spot on WhereDoYouStand.com asks viewers, "Should it be a woman's right to choose if she's the one carrying it?" In it, we see a woman lost in thought who suddenly smiles enigmatically, strides forward – ah! she's made a decision! – and plucks a leather bag from a collection of satchels. Get it? That's her choice! And it's our choice to say: Kenneth Cole, you're a moron.

3. Speaking of choice, we're starting to think the folks at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion wished all those rioters in London had chosen to use iPhones to organize their attacks during the last week rather than the Waterloo, Ont.-born smart phone. On Thursday, the U.K.-based Marketing magazine reported that sentiment on Twitter had turned increasingly negative toward the BlackBerry since the phone had been fingered as a culprit by British authorities. While the sentiment of the vast majority of tweets – 71 per cent – was neutral, negative tweets hit 24 per cent of all mentions on Twitter. And no, there's no truth to the rumour that Steve Jobs is behind the riots.

4. Still, we'd be curious to know what would happen if Apple and RIM were drug companies. This comes up because a study in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research has found that people have radically different reactions to the notoriously speedy disclaimers at the conclusion of U.S. drug commercials, depending on the pre-existing level of trust for the brand. The study's authors found that viewers hearing zippy voiceovers for a familiar brand have no problem with it, but they buck at unfamiliar brands airing fast disclaimers, because they feel the company is trying to, you know, pull a fast one. This may create an unfair advantage for trusted brands, which can therefore speed through the disclaimer and then spend more of their commercial's time on touting their product. By the way, readingthiscolumncouldcausedrowsinessbadbreathandsexualdysfunction...

Report an editorial error

Report a technical issue

Editorial code of conduct

Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:15pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
-1.06%171.48

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe